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DNA originally consisted of Lindsay, Crutchfield, Gordon Stevenson and Mirielle Cervenka, and took their name from a song by another no wave band, Mars.[2] Stevenson went on to play bass for Teenage Jesus and the Jerks; Cervenka was the younger sister of Exene Cervenka of X. Terry Ork, head of Ork Records, booked the band at Max's Kansas City for its first show. Cervenka and Stevenson left after hearing this. Lindsay and Crutchfield hastily recruited Ikue Mori—who at the time had little command of English and no musical experience—to be DNA's drummer.[3]

Shortly after the recording of No New York, Crutchfield left DNA to form a new band, Dark Day. He was replaced by Tim Wright, previously of the Cleveland band Pere Ubu. As Wright played bass guitar and not keyboards, and was the only member of the band to have any conventional instrumental technique, the change in DNA's sound was dramatic. The music became even more spare and angular, with Wright's bass lines creating a sometimes menacing sound to support Lindsay's scraping, atonal guitar and Mori's irregular rhythms. Their song structures became tighter, briefer, more abstract, and have been compared to haiku.

The Lindsay-Mori-Wright lineup of DNA developed something of a cult following between 1979 and 1982, but perhaps more of their fans came from the art world than from rock audiences. Live shows were frequent in this period, but rarely outside of the CBGB/Mudd Club/Tier 3 circuit in lower Manhattan.

The group's 10-minute debut album, A Taste of DNA was recorded for Kip Hanrahan's American Clavé label, and was later released on Rough Trade in 1980. Some live DNA tracks appeared on compilation albums while the band was still in existence.

Lindsay, Mori, and Wright decided to dissolve the band in 1982. It's a measure of the cult following the band had developed that its final concerts were three consecutive sold-out nights at CBGB. DNA's final encore was a cover of Led Zeppelin's Whole Lotta Love. This is not included on the CD Last Live at CBGB, released more than a decade later, on John Zorn's Avant label.